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Overview of events and activities in chronological order 6th Meeting of the Legal and Technical Working Groups on Cross-border Paperless Trade facilitation 11 March 2019, 9:00 17:00, Conference Room 4 The Legal and Technical Working Groups of the Interim Intergovernmental Steering Group on Cross-border Paperless Trade Facilitation will hold its sixth physical meeting and continue carrying out their mandated tasks, including preparing a draft implementation roadmap and related supporting documents. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2ecoyjk Fifth Meeting of the Interim Intergovernmental Steering Group on Cross-Border Paperless Trade Facilitation 12-13 March 2019, Conference Room 4 The interim intergovernmental steering group on cross-border paperless trade facilitation was established following ESCAP Commission Resolution 70/6 adopted in 2014. Following finalization of the treaty text of the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific in 2016, the steering group now focuses on preparation of a draft implementation roadmap of the agreement and related supporting documents. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2tiaudp Regional Seminar on Investment Facilitation for Sustainable Development 12 March 2019, 09:00-17:00, Meeting Room A The regional seminar aims to build on knowledge of participants about the issues and required policies to facilitate foreign direct investment as a means of implementation of sustainable development and discuss in particular various developments on investment facilitation in international investment agreements and other multilateral frameworks. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2tkwlyk 3
Workshop on Non-Tariff Measures and International Standards for Sustainable Development 13-14 March 2019, Meeting Room A The purpose of the workshop is to build capacity of trade policymakers and standards organizations on reducing the impact of non-tariff measures (NTMs) on trade by using international standards and aligning them with the Sustainable Development Goals. The workshop is a joint event, co-organized by ESCAP, ISO and UNCTAD. Participants will attend the first three sessions (agenda items) of the sixth session of the Committee on Trade and Investment, followed by separate sessions focused on NTMs and international standards for sustainable development. These sessions will provide an overview of NTMs in the region, examine their impacts on trade and sustainable development, and the role of international standards. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2eqxof6 Committee on Trade and Investment, Sixth Session 13-15 March 2019, Conference Room 2 The Committee on Trade and Investment is one of the committees that make up the subsidiary structure of the Commission. It is held every other year. The sixth session of the Committee will consider the following agenda items: implications of rising protectionism, including trade wars, on regional trade and investment; navigating nontariff measures towards sustainable development; promoting cross-border paperless trade in Asia and the Pacific; leveraging e-commerce for graduation of least developed countries; promoting sustainable investment and business; engaging the business sector in promoting sustainable development; future focus of the trade and investment subprogramme; consideration of draft resolutions for submission to the Commission at its seventy-fifth session; and other matters. The Committee is expected to conduct substantive interactive dialogues on the theme topics of the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2018 and 2019, namely on implications of rising protectionism on regional trade and investment and navigating nontariff measures towards sustainable development. The Committee will engage on formulation of concrete policy recommendations in this regard providing guidance to the secretariat on its subprogramme and activities in the area of trade and investment including the linkages to technology and innovation. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2hgqaat 4
Demonstration of Trade Intelligence and Negotiation Adviser (TINA) 14 March 2019, 13:00-13:30, Meeting Room A TINA: http://tina.negotiatetrade.org/ ESCAP Trade Intelligence and Negotiation Advisor is an online decision support system on trade negotiations designed to build the capacity of trade negotiators in developing countries in a sustainable manner. The system combines data from a multitude of sources, including UN Comtrade, WTO tariff database, ESCAP Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Agreement Database (APTIAD), UN Global Survey on Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade Implementation data, as well as ESCAP-World Bank trade cost database. The central premise behind this decision support system is that much analysis conducted in the process of identifying trade potential, as well as sectors in which to negotiate tariffs is laborious and monotonous work with no clear guidelines or single repository of data. TINA automates most of data collection and analysis commonly done in preliminary steps of trade negotiations. The advisory board includes prominent researchers and trade negotiators to provide expertise in further development of the tool. Future extensions may add examination of legal provisions, addition of non-tariff data information, product-level estimates of trade misinvoicing and resultant tax revenue losses, impact of LDC graduation and quantifying impact of tariff reductions. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2tlv69w Follow-up Workshop on Reducing the Costs of NTMs in North and Central Asia 15 March 2019, 09:00-12:00, Meeting Room H The purpose of this workshop is to review progress on addressing non-tariff measures in Central Asia and explore options for subregional cooperation on reducing the costs and enhancing transparency of NTMs. The workshop will summarize the outcomes of the first meeting, held on 11 October 2018 in Geneva, update the countries on the ongoing data collection work and provide an opportunity for countries to discuss avenues in promoting intra-regional cooperation on reducing the costs of NTMs. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2ixfeap 5
Forum on Trade Digitalization for Sustainable Regional Integration 14-15 March 2019, Conference Room 4 The Forum will invite regional and global initiatives on electronic exchange of traderelated data and documents for trade digitalization, share their current progress and lessons learnt during implementation, and discuss way forward in making them better contribute to sustainable regional integration. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2elbt8h Fourth UNNExT Task Force on Cross-border Electronic Data Exchange 15 March 2019, 14:00-17:00, Meeting Room H The UNNExT Task Force on Cross-border Electronic Data Exchange intends to improve readiness in exchange of trade-related data electronically across borders for better regulatory compliance and improved trade facilitation. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2eh5sct Integrating Southeast Asian SMEs in Global Value Chains 15 March 2019, 12:30-14:00, Meeting Room G This event will discuss the recently launched OECD UNIDO report. The report identifies investment and related policies to enhance linkages between SMEs in Southeast Asia. It draws on evidence collected through an enterprise survey in Thailand and factfinding missions in Lao PDR, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam. In this hour-long side event, moderated by ESCAP, the representatives of OECD and UNIDO will present key findings and policy interventions suggested in the Report. As the event is open to all participants of the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week, it is hoped that it will provide an opportunity for a dialogue on how to improve policy formulation and coordination with a focus on promoting equitable and responsible economic development. Webpage: https://bit.ly/2ivmxxp 6
Biographies of the speakers in Committee on Trade and Investment panels Panel 1 Ratnakar Adhikari Executive Director of Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Prior to this assignment, Mr Adhikari was the Chief Executive Director of South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), a Kathmandu-based regional think tank. Previously, he served, among other things, as a Senior Adviser to the National Planning Commission, Government of Nepal, and as a Trade Programme Specialist for the United Nations Development Programme, Asia Pacific Regional Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Mr Adhikari has conducted extensive research as well as published in the areas of international trade, regional economic integration, Aid for Trade, competition policy and intellectual property rights, particularly from the perspective of the LDCs. He obtained his PhD from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom; his Master of International Law and Economics from the World Trade Institute, Switzerland; and his Master of Commerce from the University of Delhi, India. Deborah Elms Founder and Executive Director of the Asian Trade Centre The Asian Trade Centre works with governments and companies to design better trade policies for the region. Ms. Elms is also Vice Chair of the Asia Business Trade Association (ABTA) and sits on the International Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance and is Chair of the Working Group on Trade Policy and Law. She is also a senior fellow in the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry s Trade Academy. Previously, Ms. Elms was head of the Temasek Foundation Centre for Trade & Negotiations (TFCTN). Her projects include the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and global value chains. Ms. Elms received a PhD in political science from the University of Washington, a MA in international relations from the University of Southern California, and bachelor s degrees from Boston University. Ms. Elms publishes the Talking Trade Blog. 7
Pradeep S Mehta Founder Secretary General of the Jaipur-based Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS International) CUTS is a leading economic policy research, advocacy and networking, non-governmental group in India, with offices in Nairobi, Lusaka, Hanoi, Accra, Washington DC and Geneva. CUTS was established in 1983. Currently, Mr. Mehta is in the Board of Trade and Steering Committee on Ecomark of the Government of India. In the past he has been an honorary adviser to the Commerce and Industries Minister of India and to the Director General of the WTO. A prolific writer, gifted speaker, skilled trainer and organizer in the social science field, Mr. Mehta has been named as one of the 30 most famous columnists in India by a leading newspaper in India. He has published/edited several books and papers on trade, investment, competition, consumer welfare and development. Ian Mitchell Director of Development Cooperation in Europe and Senior Policy Fellow at the Center for Global Development Mr. Mitchell leads the Center s work in Europe on how governments policies accelerate or inhibit development and poverty reduction considering both the effectiveness of aid and policies beyond aid including trade, migration, environment, and security. He is also an associate fellow at Chatham House and at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. At the latter, he led a high-profile review of the economic studies of Brexit. Until 2016, Mr. Mitchell worked as an economist and senior civil servant in the UK government. At the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, he was Deputy Chief Economist and was responsible for economic analysis on EU, agricultural and environmental issues. Between 2014 and 2015, he chaired the Agricultural Markets Information System established by the G20 to mitigate global food commodity volatility. Mr. Mitchell s career began at Ernst and Young and has also included roles at HM Treasury and the Centre for Economics and Business Research. 8
Panel 2 Mr. Wanawit Ahkuputra Chair of Regional Comprehensive Economic Program at Working Group on Electronic Commerce (WGEC) Mr. Ahkuputra has taken leadership roles in several works related to Trade and E-Commerce under UN/CEFACT and AFACT. Mr. Wanawit was appointed as the Chair of Working Group of Electronic Commerce in the RCEP Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation that is responsible for addressing issues concerned with trade by electronic means, measures, cooperation on issue relate to trade agreement. He is the members of several committee in Private Sector that advocate the policy maker in policy relate to Tarde Facilitation Agreement Implementation, such as Digital Economy Committee under the Thai National Shippers' Council. He was selected as one of the 25 members of Privacy Advisory Group from 2016 to 2017. The UN Global Pulse is a flagship innovation initiative of the United Nation s Secretary General on big data, which embodies an ambitious vision of the future where big data is harnessed safely and responsibly as a public good. Kristina Cherniavskaia Leading specialist in the Trade Negotiations Department of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Ms. Cherniavskaia is responsible for ensuring the fulfillment of international obligations of the Russian Federation related to the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures in trade. She is also involved in negotiations on establishment of free trade areas between the Eurasian Economic Union and third countries. She received a Master s degree in International Relations with a focus on European Studies at National Research University - Higher School of Economics. She graduated with a Bachelor degree from St. Petersburg State University majoring in North- American Studies. 9
Belinda Cleeland Head of Research and Innovation of the central secretariat at International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Created in January 2019, the new Research and Innovation unit at ISO has a mission to collect, analyze and provide empirical data on the concrete economic, social, and environmental impacts of International Standards and to identify new and emerging areas for standardization. Ms. Cleeland was previously the Head of Technical Policy at ISO, leading the team that provides the secretariat for the ISO Technical Management Board (ISO/TMB). The TMB is the governance body in the ISO system responsible for the technical work, including oversight of technical committees and revision of the rules and procedures for standards development (ISO/IEC Directives). She holds a Master s degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute, Geneva, a Bachelor of Arts with Honors (Political Science and French) and a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry and Genetics) from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Pamela Coke-Hamilton Director of the Division on International Trade and Commodities at UNCTAD Ms. Coke-Hamilton has an in-depth knowledge of international trade and extensive experience in development policy, private sector development, capacity building and technical cooperation. This expertise was gained from her tenure with regional and international organizations including work with member states, national governments and universities. Previously, she has served as the Regional Hub Coordinator for the Caribbean in the Integration and Trade Department of the Inter-American Development Bank where she spearheaded the Aid for Trade initiative for the Caribbean. As Director of Trade and Competitiveness at the Organization of American States she worked on issues related to small island developing states and small economies in international trade and globalization. She serves as the Executive Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency. She holds a BSc in International Relations and Economics from The UWI, Mona campus and a Juris Doctor in Law from the Georgetown University School of Law in Washington, DC. 10
Antoine Sautenet Diplomatic Advisor International Trade and Asia to the Public Affairs Department at Michelin Group Mr. Sautenet was previously a chargé de mission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Associate Researcher at the French Institute of International Relations. He also teaches international commercial law at the Hanoi School of Foreign Trade, and has published a book on the strategic partnership between Europe and emerging Asian nations. With a dual training in European law and law from the WTO (University of Rennes I) and in economic-management (Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan), he taught in European and international law, including the University of Rennes and worked as a visiting scholar in Thailand at the Center for European Studies at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. Follow us on: https://www.unescap.org/tii @artnetonline @artnetontrade ARTNeT group #TIweek2019 11
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